1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a digital multifunction product including a plurality of functions, the one capable of forming a color image has been widely used in recent years. Particularly, a tandem-type color image forming apparatus including a plurality of image carriers is becoming the mainstream because of its high-speed performance. As an example of the tandem-type color image forming apparatus, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-195401 discloses the one in which the same size and shape of four process cartridges are arranged in parallel to one another. In this technology, when a toner contained in the process cartridge is run out, the process cartridge needs to be replaced by a user. The four process cartridges respectively contain yellow, magenta, cyan, and black color toners, and positions of the process cartridges are fixed in advance based on colors of the toners.
However, it is difficult for the user to identify the colors of the toners. The only way the user identifies the colors of the toners is to check an assembly certification issued when the toner is preset in the process cartridge. Therefore, there is a possibility that the process cartridge is mistakenly labeled as a toner of which color is different from an actual toner color. In this case, the image forming apparatus fails to form a proper color image.
Furthermore, if a developing unit or the like is arranged as close as possible to the process cartridges to downsize the image forming apparatus, the user inevitably has a difficulty in replacing the process cartridge. To solve the problem, for example, a handle can be provided to the process cartridge so that the process cartridge can be easily attached to or taken out from the image forming apparatus with an emphasis on the handling ability. However, due to the handle, a size of the process cartridge increases, and thus a size of the image forming apparatus also increases. Moreover, the handle needs to be fitted in view of a layout of the image forming apparatus, otherwise the handle may interfere a light path of a laser located near the process cartridges.